Posted
by
timothy
on Thursday September 04, 2014 @12:30PM
from the good-reason-to-use-webmail dept.

Jason Koebler writes Did you hear about those Comcast service calls from hell that have been cropping up over the last couple months? So did FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who said today that switching internet service providers is too damn hard, in part because ISPs have grown used to having a monopoly on broadband services. "Once consumers choose a broadband provider, they face high switching costs that include early-termination fees and equipment rental fees," Wheeler said in a speech today. Wheeler didn't specifically say what the FCC will do (if anything) to change that, but said the answer is to help facilitate more true competition: "If those disincentives to competition weren't enough, the media is full of stories of consumers' struggles to get ISPs to allow them to drop service."

Switching requires two different providers. Most people can only get DSL over a phone line because cable companies do not cover most of the country. Where I live in Seattle, Comcast only provides service to about 1/3 of the neighborhood despite it being less than a mile from the center of downtown. In order for it to be difficult to switch, you must have the ability to switch. That is the logic problem with Wheeler's statement that makes it just dumb. It's either that or a bold-face lie because he is trying to push the lie that we have a choice. So, is he stupid or a liar?